REVIEWS

I had an amazing time in Japan. I was keen to see a lot of different aspects, so I saw sumo in Osaka, walked the Kumano Kodo, visited shrines, enjoyed the capital. I finished by a week in Hokkaido, where I wanted to explore Ainu culture. I cannot speak too highly of the service I had from Japan Travel Centre. They booked my sumo ticket for me and negotiated with hotels that had Japanese-only websites so I could stay where I wanted. They advised me on flights and got me cheap internal flights from Tokyo to Sapporo and Sapporo back to Osaka. No matter how small my request, they replied promptly and always helpfully. It is a big thing to travel so far, but JTC held my hand! As a vegetarian, I found it very tough to eat the way I wanted to and I regularly failed and had to eat fish or meat. It is not a vegetarian-friendly country. Overall, though, I had an overwhelmingly wonderful time.

Selecting which aspect of the trip I enjoyed most was impossible to answer properly as there was only one selection possible. I enjoyed the food, the historical landmarks, the people...absolutely everything.

I had few days to enjoy this properly so that is why I followed the agency's advice on guided tours which were EXCELLENT. The staff in the tours was helpful, nice and they made the tours really enjoyable. I've been in lots of guided tours and these ones were the best as everything was explained in great detail. 

The chosen places to stay were great too. Celestine Hotel is just great and Unizo Hotel was a very nice conveniently located Ryokan. 

My recommendation is to stay more than 10 days and if, like me, you don't have the luxury, get some guided tours that will help you to efficiently visit places and learn all the history behind them without queuing for tickets or researching how to get there.

If anything I would REALLY LOVE to repeat the experience. Hopefully, next year, I will have more days!

This short 6 day trip was an excellent and extremely well organised introduction to Japan. The guides on the daily tours were all excellent and informative and we were also given free time to explore for ourselves. We are definitely planning to return for a longer visit to see more of this beautiful country.

We had an excellent vacation and were interested to see a culture with very different values from ours [UK]. We organised our own itinerary [with help from Sandy] but spoke or read no Japanese. We managed, but found very little English spoken outside Kyoto, which often made ordering food etc difficult. The transport system is excellent. We also hired a car and found driving on motorways or side roads easy. We stayed in many Ryokan with breakfast and evening meal included. This was a good challenge and well worth doing. The food overall was very good, but very different. No real milk or butter was seen - except for the inhouse Starbucks in the Toyota factory, [and no cows], so no desert trolley!. We noted that the kimono is making a comeback. We would return - with Sandy's help.

Everything about the holiday went well. There had been a lot of thought into all the locations and travelling arrangements and all worked perfectly. We had picked Kyushu because we wanted to see more of the Japanese countryside and the itinerary chosen for us worked as we wanted.

Japan Travel centre and Wakako in particular had obviously put a lot of effort into our holiday and we really appreciated it.

We really enjoyed the scenery of Kyushu, the mountains were spectacular. We would have liked to do a little more walking, but we were restricted a bit by the weather and the eruptions in My Aso. However there was still plenty to do.As westerners at the end of our 60s with hind sight a Japanese room, especially when it had no chairs did make life a bit difficult. We liked the JR hotels a good standard and provided laundrette facilities which were especially useful For us the only place which we could have missed out altogether was Yufuin, it may have catered for Korean and Chinese taste, but not ours. 

All in all a well planned holiday.
Thank you.

Excellent service regarding the JR in general and also excellent value for money. Food and sites to visit all first class. Must be the cleanest country in the world, regardless of the total absence of the street litter bins! Exceptionally friendly people further enhance the experience.

Thank you!

The best holiday of my life. I love Japan with all my heart and couldn't recommend this trip more.

Being able to easily hop on/off the Shinkansen has by far been one of the highlights of my life. An absolutely incredible experience and the JR Pass gives you the ability to do that. However, I would only recommend if you'll be visiting a lot of cities; otherwise you won't get your money back (e.g. if you just use it to get around locally in Tokyo.) 

However it gives you inspiration on destinations you may not have previously planned I your trip. For example, I went to Miyajima Island (Itsukushima) off the coast of Hiroshima and only because I realised I could get there completely free - the pass even covered the ferry!

It be and my most favourite place on earth.

All I have to say for the JR Pass is a huge thank you - it really made my Japan trip.

Japan is great... all of it... the people, the history, the food, the culture.